Review - - The Rom Con

The Rom Con

by Devon Daniels

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: November 7, 2023

Reviewed by Hellie

After a particularly brutal breakup, Cassidy Sutton has had it with dating. So when her grandmother gives her a 1950’s dating guide entitled 125 Tips to Hook a Husband, she decides to turn the retro advice into an ironic “What not to do” article for Siren, the popular online women’s publication she writes for. And who better to secretly test the old-fashioned tips on than Jack Bradford, chauvinistic creator of rival men’s site Brawler? She’ll write an article that will entertain female readers everywhere and embarrass their sexist nemesis at the same time. Two birds, one stone. 

But her perfect plan soon proves to be anything but. Those vintage courtship tips Cassidy was so quick to poke fun at? They actually seem to work, calling her most closely-held beliefs into question. Even worse? Jack isn’t falling for any of her tricks—and it’s not long before their ‘fake’ relationship starts to feel like the realest one of her life. As her cat and mouse game starts to spiral out of control, Cassidy has to decide if she’s playing to win, or if she’s willing to lose it all for love.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

If you will be convening with people this holiday season (in a variety of settings, possibly long dinners or parties) and need an emergency book in your bag to read when you take an emergency 15 minutes in the bathroom to get away from it all–this is your book. It took me less than ten seconds to be sucked into the story, the writing, the sassy sarcastic monologue of the main character, and just start laughing. A good sign for me when I’m reading a book is how soon I start laughing: which could be because of the humor but could also be because of the set up of what is going to go down…and in this book’s case, both. Once you start, you’ll soon make the connection to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but the story also has bits and pieces of other rom-coms you may have watched over the years. 27 Dresses. A bit of You’ve Got Mail. A few cocktails of The Devil Wears Prada. Vintage vibes of Down With Love. Basically any rom-com where the protagonists essentially hate each other at first sight, but in the end, are the very best of lovers. Why is a book about enemies-to-lovers a good pick for the holidays? Because it’s so easy to slip in and out of when you need a few minutes to escape anywhere else–and this book is a delightful escape. I could literally pick up this book and start reading and forget where I was before I even turned the page. It was amazing. 

While the hero and heroine are both very likable (which kudos to the author for pulling this off because the heroine could be construed as being a bit hostile to someone she’s technically never met and that’s a hard thin line to walk to make everyone still very sympathetic), the side characters time and again made me laugh out loud. Gran was far and away my favorite–and still is–and I loved how her story was resolved in the end of the book. Her schooling her granddaughter in the minefield of modern dating was a thing to behold. But I also enjoyed Natalie the roommate and Christina the fiercely protective sister (Cassie’s). Tom, who is Jack’s obnoxious business partner, is even eventually turned into a guy one could reasonably like, even as he fronts a company that publishes articles that serve as clickbait and capitalizes on men acting like frat brothers constantly. These characters all supported our main characters and made them better people–and showed us why the main characters were so worthy of love and support.  

Lastly, if like me, you’re a bit of a rabid feminist who wrestles with the Patriarchy just in principle, this was an interesting book in poking at the things that definitely burn my britches, so to speak, when it comes to relationships, such as how women tend to subsume themselves into their relationships while men seem to get the better end of the stick (without losing their career, et al). Or the fact that a single woman is basically a thing of pity, but a single man is just someone sowing his wild oats and has plenty of time–even now, today, when being a spinster shouldn’t even be a thing. I would turn pages and go, “Yep! Been there and done that!” or “Oh, yes, the character is wrestling with something I totally think about a lot!”--and the secondary character (or even the main character) would confront the issue and look at it from a different way, one I hadn’t really considered, and it was like, “Yes, that is true too. Huh.” You can be feminist…but also soft, and it not be in contradiction. So I always like a book that makes me challenge my assumptions in a good way and come away with a more positive mindset. (This may not be every reader’s experience–but it certainly resonated with me.) 

Basically I laughed a LOT…I would laugh and my husband would say, “What’s so funny?” and I’d tell him and he’d may or may not get it (because you sometimes had to be there, if you know what I mean) and other times he’d go, “Is this a fun book or a review book?” and I’d go, “Both. It’s definitely both.” While enemies to lovers is not my favorite trope, I feel this story hit it out of the park–and it definitely had black moments galore to make you question how this would all turn out. I would highly recommend for your lists to Santa.  

Review - - Three Holidays and a Wedding

Three Holidays and a Wedding

by Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: September 26, 2023

Reviewed by Hellie

Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos. 

As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops. 

An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

I wouldn’t just give this 5 stars. I’d give it 6…or 11…or all the stars in the sky. This is a magical book. It is as classic as It’s a Wonderful Life, full of feels and tears and laughter as we all wish to be part of a time and place like Snow Falls, where the Big 3 Faiths all cross for one glorious and heart-felt celebration.  

Maryam and Anna, strangers with completely opposite personalities, get off to a rocky start on the plane to Toronto, but once they are both relocated to Snow Falls due to bad weather, their shared experience on the plane and the confessions they made start them on a friendship that becomes a “ride-or-die” kind of camaraderie. Of course, being relocated to Snow Falls, with no chance of getting to Toronto in time for the events they both have scheduled to within an inch of their lives leads to seismic shifts in their everyday normal. Soon they will be questioning the way they’ve been handling things in their old lives–or namely, not handling, due to not wishing to rock the boat or disappoint others.  

Meanwhile both of them have potential for romances under their own noses: Maryam with a childhood friend-turned-hottie who happened to overhear her confession of a childhood crush; and Anna, with a handsome stranger who turns out to be not who she thinks. The romance and tension is delicious and well-written as both couples have to overcome big hurdles and vulnerabilities to make the romance work. But the romance does not take center stage to the transformations each woman makes in changing their lives for the better, by reclaiming themselves and putting themselves first, even as they take care of everyone around them.  

One of my favorite lines from the book is where a family friend, Farah, tells Maryam: “It took me a long time to accept that we deserve our happy endings, too, even if they look a little different from what our family imagined for us.” While I’m not the child of immigrant parents, my parents did have expectations of me that allows me to empathize very well with the expectations of desi parents for their children…and the children who have to reckon with those expectations. The other favorite line from the book is from the grandfather, who is a widower, speaking about grief and life after you’ve lost someone you love very much: “You have to take happiness as it comes to you, while accepting that grief will always live with you too.” Oh, how true those words are. I cried no less than three times while reading various parts of this book. It’s a rom-com, but oh, so emotional.  

The book is full of the best emotional payoffs you want in a story–the romance, the sweet over-the-top gestures–it has it all. It has complications where you worry our heroines will go back to what is easy–but then delivers when they do the right, hard thing and it all comes out as it should. It’s marvelous. I believe this will go on my keeper shelf to be re-read each December…when I need to be reminded we can be all good, kind people who accept each other just for being who we were meant to be. Please add it to your TBR pile–or Santa list. You won’t regret it.

 

Review - - How to Tame a Wild Rogue

How to Tame a Wild Rogue

by Julie Anne Long

The Palace of Rogues - Book 6

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: July 25, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

He clawed his way up from the gutters of St. Giles to the top of a shadowy empire. Feared and fearsome, battered and brilliant, nothing shocks Lorcan St. Leger—not even the discovery of an aristocratic woman escaping out a window near the London docks on the eve of the storm of the decade. They find shelter at a boarding house called the Grand Palace on the Thames—only to find greater dangers await inside.

Desperate, destitute, and jilted, Lady Daphne Worth knows the clock is ticking on her last chance to save herself and her family: an offer of a loveless marriage. But while the storm rages and roads flood, she and the rogue who rescued her must pose as husband and wife in order to share the only available suite.

Crackling enmity gives way to incendiary desire—and certain heartbreak: Lorcan is everything she never dreamed she’d wanted, but he can never be what she needs. But risk is child’s play to St. Leger. And if the stakes are a lifetime of loving and being loved by Daphne, he’ll move any mountain, confront any old nemesis, to turn “never” into forever.

PJ's Thoughts:

If you read only one historical romance this summer, make it How to Tame a Wild Rogue by Julie Anne Long. That's it. That's the review. Okay, that's not the whole review but it could be. Because, this book? It's just that good. 

I've said this before but it bears repeating. Julie Anne Long paints pictures with words like no other author I have ever read. Composers create stunning, immersive, soul-stirring masterpieces that send our souls into flight. Long does it with words. They challenge, entice, anger, seduce, empower, excite. They swirl her characters - they swirl me - into an emotional maelstrom then deposit all of us, still, spent, changed, in the gentle swirl of waves lapping the shore in sunset's lambent light. That is the power - and the beauty - of this book.

With her vivid descriptions and well-developed characters, Long immerses readers into the daily life at the Grand Palace on the Thames, a most unique boarding house. While Lorcan and Daphne are indisputably the most important characters of this story, they are surrounded by a richly-depicted and entertaining supporting cast. Forced into close proximity by torrential rains, secondary characters unerringly stir conflict, generate humor, and provoke thought, all helping to move the story forward. Some are recurring characters who readers slowly come to know over the course of the series while others are newly introduced. It's fun to discover new layers to those characters familiar to fans of the series but readers new to this world should have no issues jumping in at any point. 

While secondary characters provide richness and texture to this tale, it's Daphne and Lorcan who are at the helm of the story. Oh, how I loved these two. A privateer and a lady. A chance meeting, a fake marriage. A sensual, self-made man used to taking what he wants. A prim and proper lady who puts everyone's needs before her own. A fiery, tender, sensual, unexpected, empowering, all-consuming, cross-class love for the ages. Is it any wonder I couldn't put it down?

Long never makes a misstep in this book. It is beautifully balanced, nuanced, and simply perfection from beginning to end. Lorcan and Daphne have become one of my favorite romance couples, not only from Long but from any author. Reading their story, for me, was an all-encompassing, visceral experience, one I would happily repeat time and time again.

Review - - Much Ado About Nada

Much Ado About Nada

by Uzma Jalaluddin

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 13, 2023

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward. 

Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell…and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference held downtown, where Nada can finally meet Haleema’s fiancé, Zayn. And did Haleema mention Zayn’s brother Baz will be there? 

What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a past—some of it good, some of it bad and all of it secret.  At the conference, that past all comes hurtling at Nada, bringing new complications and a moment of reckoning. Can Nada truly say goodbye to once was or should she hold tight to her dreams and find their new beginnings?

 

Hellie’s Heeds 

I love this book, and I love this author. I cannot stop talking about this book to people who catch me reading it; and even if they didn’t catch me, I will start talking about it and say, “You really need to read Uzma’s books. They are fantastic.” I have adored Ms. Jalaluddin’s books from the get-go: Ayesha at Last, the book that was inspired by Pride & Prejudice, and her sophomore hit, Hana Khan Carries On, that was gritty as well as funny, taking on the classic, You’ve Got Mail. This one takes on my favorite of the Austen books, Persuasion. Mainly because I totally relate to being hung up on The Guy even after you think every one of your chances have passed because you were dealing with family drama at the time or you were too scared…or just bad advice–and well, I love a good pining book. This was an excellent pining book.  

But it was much more than a pining-yearning-longing book–and I mean, didn’t we all get tired of Wuthering Heights and that amount of pining and carrying on? Exactly. There needs to be a balance; and we are given a very relatable heroine who has been dealt a number of hard blows and now feels stuck in her life, unable to figure out where to go now. The heroine, Nada, is a good South Asian Muslim woman…and part of that is living with her parents as is expected of the cultural norms, even as she’s approaching thirty. And also putting up with her mother’s designs to set her up with any man with a pulse (so long as he’s Muslim) so she’ll finally get married and have kids. But Nada wants more for herself–a fact she also struggles with in a world where the men prefer the women to stay home and take care of the house but she wants to have something wholly her own. (This may sound a little 1950s flashback, but it’s not, because I read a lot of Amish romance–which has a similar struggle many times; and well, I used to be a Southern Baptist before all the therapy–so really, this is still a pretty modern issue. How does one balance one’s faith and societal norms with the longings in one’s heart?)  

In stalking–um, researching for more information about Ms. Jalaluddin, I saw her FAQ about why she became a writer. It was so she could see more representation of her lived experience as a South Asian Muslim woman in story form, something she did not have when she first started reading. Of course, we know reading stories is one of the best ways to develop empathy for other people, especially those not like us (or actually, who we THINK are not like us.) What I’ve discovered–and I imagine most people also have–is that other people are like us and were the whole time. I am curious about how other people live, especially those who live in other countries or cultures or faiths–these are all interesting to me. What I enjoyed most is how feminist this book felt, in how Nada was portrayed–and how this story showed the many ways one can be a feminist.  

Okay, enough about that–I’m sure you are more curious about the writing, the story, the characters. The writing was superb. You will not be surprised to note that our intrepid author is also an English Ed teacher. She is funny and sarcastic but also emotional and handles scenes with sensitivity. There was lots of smoldering tension for a couple who lives in a culture where unrelated men and women do not touch each other or even spend alone time together, and there was so much romantic sweetness and respect that can sometimes feel missing in more secular stories. I think of her heroes, Baz is my favorite. (Granted I might have said that about each of the heroes in the subsequent reviews…but yes, definitely it’s Baz.) He’s so serious and sweet, but also flirty and passionate. Nada is smart and loving–and I think easy to relate to as a woman who is trying to break free of some of the norms her parents have not outgrown (as is the problem with every parent-child generation, yes?) while still honoring her parents and her faith and herself. Oh, and the surprises she gave me at every turn! I would be like, “What is happening? I did not expect that! OMG, how is she ever going to tell her parents!?” like at the end of every other chapter. Or it’d be, “OMG, these two are never getting together. How can they overcome this? They can’t. They just can’t.” 

I read this book so fast–and I barely was able to put it down. I lingered over lunch with it; I stayed up hours past my bedtime reading it…once I started, it was just like a Netflix series that I pushed PLAY and didn’t stop until the story ended. (In fact, these books should totally be Netflix series…we have a precedent of Never Have I Ever and Bridgerton–this story could carry a series.) And once I finished, I logged on here to write up the review. I mean, the book may be called Much Ado About Nada–but this story is actually everything. Come for the belly laughs and family shenanigans, stay for the smoldering romance. Ms. Austen would be proud.

Review & Giveaway - - The Enchanted Hacienda

The Enchanted Hacienda

by J.C. Cervantes

Publisher: Park Row

Release Date: May 16, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

When there’s magic all around you, the possibilities are endless…

When Harlow Estrada is abruptly fired from her dream job and her boyfriend proves to be a jerk, her world turns upside down. She flees New York City to the one place she can always call home—the enchanted Hacienda Estrada.

The Estrada family farm in Mexico houses an abundance of charmed flowers cultivated by Harlow’s mother, sisters, aunt, and cousins. By harnessing the magic in these flowers, they can heal hearts, erase memories, interpret dreams—but not Harlow. So when her mother and aunt give her a special task involving the family’s magic, she panics. How can she rise to the occasion when she is magicless? But maybe it’s not magic she’s missing, but belief in herself. When she finally embraces her unique gifts and opens her heart to a handsome stranger, she discovers she’s far more powerful than she imagined.

With unforeseen twists, romance, and a heavy sprinkle of magic, The Enchanted Hacienda is a captivating coming-of-age debut exploring identity, unconditional family love, and uncovering the magic within us all.

PJ's Thoughts:

This story is, in a word, enchanting. Other words also come to mind: immersive, uplifting, magical, welcoming, all-encompassing, romantic, transformative. I lost myself completely in these characters and their story, especially Harlow. I'm firmly convinced the Hacienda Estrada is in full bloom south of the border. J.C. Cervantes brought it, and her characters, vividly to life with exquisitely detailed descriptions that encouraged layers of visceral feelings within me to the surface. This was not just a reading; it was an experience. 

Reading this coming-of-age story also brought home the fact that there is no age limit to people discovering, exploring and accepting their individual truths. I loved watching the gradual flowering of Harlow, nurtured by the unconditional love and support of her family and best friend, as she slowly opened her heart to love and herself to unanticipated possibilities. It was joyous, empowering, and not without pain along the way. But as the goddess whispers to Harlow in her darkest hour, "There is magic in heartbreak. Because every transformation begins here." The transformation of Harlow, of Ben, and of their love was one that broke my heart before putting the pieces back together, stronger than before. The romance is strong in this book, intertwining with Harlow's individual growth to achieve a satisfying balance between one person's coming-of-age journey and one couple's journey to a hard-won happily ever after. 

There is also magic in the words of Cervantes. Every word, every thought, every touch is well thought out and essential to the overall story as well as the evolution of its characters. Each character, whether primary or secondary, has a vital role to play in Harlow's awakening. Each one stirred something elemental within me. I could write at least three more paragraphs about the impact of these characters on Harlow's life - and on me - but that is something that should be experienced first hand by each reader. 

This book is Cervantes' adult fiction debut, one that has landed her solidly on my must-buy list. I don't know if there are more Estrada family books planned but I really hope that there are. I'm nowhere close to being ready to say good-bye to this family or to the other Estrada women begging for their stories to be told. 

I've read The Enchanted Hacienda twice. I loved it the first time through. I loved it even more the second. I am confident that I will return to it again and again, whenever I need a comforting reminder to believe in myself, in love, and in the magic that surrounds us all...if only we believe. 

This one has my enthusiastic recommendation. It's one of my favorite books I've read so far this year and has earned a place on my Best of 2023 watch list. 

~~~~~~~~

Do you enjoy magical elements in the books you read?

Have you watched the movie, Encanto? This book mirrors the joy, warmth, and complexity that touched my soul while watching that film. Many times. ;-)

Each of the women in the Estrada family has a magical power that is tied closely to a flower. What magical power would you choose to have, if any, and what flower would you want it to be tied to? 

One randomly chosen person posting a comment before 11:00 PM, May 18 will receive a hardback copy of The Enchanted Hacienda. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Many thanks to Park Row Books for their generous donation of today's giveaway. 

Review - - Courage in the Storm

Courage in the Storm

by Laurel Blount

Publisher: Berkley 

Release Date: April 25, 2023

Reviewed by Hellie

Since witnessing the murder of her beloved parents, Miriam Hochstedler suffers from paralyzing anxiety and a deep-seated fear of the Englisch. Unwilling to venture beyond her family’s Tennessee farm, she forms a close bond with a badly injured gelding. Like Miriam herself, the traumatized animal seems unlikely to recover—until skilled horse whisperer Reuben Brenneman arrives.
 
A survivor of an abusive childhood, Reuben understands fear better than most. He’ll do whatever it takes to help a terrified animal, but his compassion doesn’t extend to the church that turned a blind eye to his family’s suffering. Once he finishes this job, he’ll return to the Englisch world, putting his Amish heritage behind him forever. 
 
As Miriam works alongside Reuben, battling the horse’s fear—and her own—an unexpected friendship blooms and deepens into romance. But the Amish faith that sustains her inspires only distrust in Reuben, and the Englisch world he’s chosen has already broken her heart once. 
 
Falling in love was easy. But staying together will take all the courage they have.

Hellie's Heeds:

First, you don’t need to have read the other two books in the series to bond with these characters or feel the story deeply. I imagine it may deepen the experience even more–and I completely plan to read the other two books as soon as I’m able–but this is my first book of Laurel Blount and it won’t be my last. Second, you’re going to spend a lot of time going, “The hero must look like Robert Redford.” Unless you’re a millennial and have no idea who I’m talking about. But if you ever saw a trailer (or the movie) of The Horse Whisperer, you know this is the plotline of this book. However, I never read that book nor saw that movie either–I just thought, “Gorgeous blonde guy with muscles and blue eyes…and crinkles at the corners. That’s Robert Redford, man.” Third, if you haven’t read the other two books in the series before reading this one, you’re going to want to read the others…because boy howdy, the world building for this series is wonderful.

The background of the stories is that there was a mass shooting by a white guy, who kills two Amish storeowners–the heroine’s parents–in the first of the series. Each of the books deals with the children/siblings who are recovering from their loss as well as the community where this evil happens. Additionally as the community is trying to grieve and move on, a movie company has come to the area to shoot a movie of the story…and bring up the emotions, fears, and anger in the community. The heroine of this book was the daughter who happened to witness the shootings, being she was in the store when it happened, but the shooter didn’t kill her. Miriam has not left the farm since the Incident. She’s terrified, broken, and unable to live her life normally–and worries she will never be able to do so ever again. She lives with her brother and sister-in-law, where she keeps chickens and makes quilts. 

Reuben, our hero, has reluctantly returned to the Amish (of which he used to belong) after living for years as English. He is a wonder with horses; and he is repaying a favor to one of the few Amish men he respects, who helped him escape an intolerable situation when he was a child. He will need to spend several weeks on the farm in order to help a horse that had been in a carriage accident and is now terrified, broken, and unable to live a normal horse life. Within a few moments, Reuben realizes the key to curing the horse will involve Miriam, but first he will need to get Miriam to trust him–an Englisher. 

If this all starts to sound impossible, it is. Reuben has very good reasons for not being Amish any longer–and does everything in his power to separate himself from his previous life. Miriam has very good reasons to distrust anyone not Amish and cannot help her fear around Reuben when he is every inch looking like the very thing she fears most. The horse…well…the horse only wants to protect Miriam and here we are in a triangle where no one seems able to bend to let the healing begin, but eventually it does. Laurel Blount does an amazing job of having three very distinct characters (and yes, the horse is one of these characters) with very jagged edges and very different experiences that all feel very similar in scope and insurmountable…and yet slowly, carefully, the pieces begin to line up and new growth begins to take shape, leaving the characters stronger than they were before. 

Now obviously Amish romance has its own tension…there’s no kissing on the first page or heavy petting (as the old folks might say) and certainly no sex scenes, but there is sexual tension and the sexual tension feels heavy and wonderful, even if no one is so much as undoing a button. This may be Christian fiction, but it’s not do-gooder Christian fiction where you might be made to feel guilty about the sexual tension. It’s normal; it’s right for these characters; and we know they are going to get married first before they consummate it–and that’s okay. (I’ve read my share of Christian romance where it felt a bit on the self-righteous side and I didn’t care for it, but this book did not do that at all. Considering how difficult it is to write sex scenes and love stories because of the need of this balance, of highlighting the joy of love and lovemaking while also not coming across as preachy or moralistic, this book nailed it out of the park.)

This book hit all the right notes for me; and I hope it does for you as well. I would love it if these books were turned into Hallmark movies because the drama and sweetness of the stories feels right up Hallmark’s alley…and the Amish twist would give them something new to the whole small town Christmas trope they’ve done ad nauseam. 

Oh, I almost forgot: my favorite character: the Bishop. The Amish Bishop…seriously…he’s like the main meddler in Fiddler on the Roof–and the book is worth reading for him alone. I now demand all my romance novels have a character like that guy. Go read it now.

 

Review & Giveaway - - Moorewood Family Rules

Moorewood Family Rules: A Novel

by HelenKay Dimon

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: April 25, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

One day a con man met an heiress, wooed her, married her, had two kids…and kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest child from that meet-cute-gone-wrong marriage. The stable one. The sensible and dependable one. The one who protects and fixes. The one who went to prison to save their sorry butts. Now, thirty-nine months later, she’s out and she’s more than a little pissed.

Finally home she finds the scheming clan in full family fleecing mode. They all claim they didn’t really agree to Jillian’s previous go-legit-or-else ultimatum before she went away. They viewed it as a “suggestion” then ignored it. So, business as usual. But Jillian is done with the lies and fakery. She demands the whole messed-up crew clean up its act, and this time she’s not kidding—she has the leverage to make it happen.

Problem is, her life is in shambles, but with the help of a great aunt (crooked but loveable), a bodyguard (who is a nice surprise after three years in prison), and a few allies (all working undercover), Jillian starts to put her life back together. She kicks out a few mooching relatives living under her roof, sets limits on everyone’s access to the money, ducks from their various attacks, and sees if that bodyguard is maybe interested in sticking around for a while. For the first time, she’s Jillian Moorewood, her own woman, and she’s ready to figure out who she is. 

PJ's Thoughts:

I gobbled up this book like a bag of Peanut M&M's after a 40-day fast. Would I want to be part of this dysfunctional (dare I say, murderous?) family of con artists in real life? Absolutely not! But, in the capable hands of HelenKay Dimon, and a fictional story I happily immersed myself in, I couldn't get enough of them. These characters are fascinating. Each and every one of them has so many intriguing layers, keeping me off balance, wondering which - and on whose - side they would land. Some are obvious. Others, not so much. All of them keep the story moving forward at a brisk pace, skillfully guided by their creator through a myriad of twists and turns that kept me eagerly flipping pages to see what would happen next. And when I reached the end, somewhere around 3:00 AM? The first thing I wanted to do was go back to page one and read it all over again to soak in all of the clever lines, unexpected detours, and subtle nuances I may have missed the first time through. This is one I know I'll be reading again. It checked all of my happy reader boxes.

Moorewood Family Rules is quirky, twisty, cringey, laugh-out-loud fun. If you've seen Knives Out or Glass Onion (A Knives Out Mystery), it has that same vibe. In fact, the publisher describes it as "Knives Out and Ocean’s 8 meets The Nest." I would agree. 

I don't know if Dimon plans to write any more books in this vein but I can guarantee that if she does I'll be first in line to buy them. Moorewood Family Rules is one of the most entertaining books I've read this year. I enthusiastically recommend adding it to your summer reading list. And, for you happily-ever-after romance fans, yes, there is a love interest for our heroine. And he's pretty yummy. 

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Because I've gushed so much about this book and want to share it with everyone, Avon has very generously offered a print, trade-size copy of Moorewood Family Rules for today's giveaway. So, tell me...

Have you read anything by HelenKay Dimon?

Do you enjoy twisty, quirky stories that bring the suspense but also keep you laughing?

Have you seen any of the movies referenced above?

What's the most entertaining book you've read so far this year?

One person, randomly chosen, who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, April 29 will receive the print copy of Moorewood Family Rules. 

*U.S. only

*Must be 18